The Guardian
by AnInappropriateName
Summary: Avatar Aang charged the ancient organization of the White Lotus with the protection of future Avatars before his death. Its a pity that he never told a certain blond member that the new one would be such a pain in the butt. AU
1. Prologue

AN: My jimmies are ready, read and review. I eat flames like a fat kid eats candy.

Also, I don't own Naruto or Legend of Korra

Talking 101:

Sarcasm/accentuating a point/joke talk: _jimmies_

Awesome talk: **jimmies**

The perpetual darkness of the night hung heavily over the water tribe of the South Pole. Winds howled and screeched over the landscape, turning the snow that was daintily drifting down from the clouds into unforgiving bouts of white out. Out of the one of these sessions of blindness came the silhouette of two men. Trudging up the foothills away from the village, the men came to a stop overlooking the separate and much smaller encampment below. Consisting of a few small houses, out of all of them one stood out above the rest. The small igloo, lit up like a beacon, marked the end of their journey through the sparse scenery.

"So that's it eh? Seems smaller than I imagined," mused the man standing a bit behind the first. "Bit plain too."

"Shut it Minato, we're here to investigate, not socialize." Reprimanded the man in front, eyes flickering back to his spiky yellow haired subordinate. Covered thickly in a cloak, the striking yellow of the subordinate's hair was the only feature the leader could make out in the bleak conditions. Even so, he could almost see the grin being returned to him.

"Aw, feeling a bit grumpy chief?" Teased the newly dubbed Minato, punching his elderly leader lightly in the arm. "Maybe you should try to _chill_ a bit more."

"Don't test my patience Minato!" The leader shouted back at him, rubbing his arm where he was hit. "These damned claims of supposed Avatars have been running me ragged, and running back and forth from the south and north pole does nothing for the age!" He paused after ranting. "And don't even get me started on that joke, that was god awful."

As Minato began pouting to himself, grumbling something about there being no humor nowadays, the leader cast his gaze back to the igloo. He hadn't been lying when he said it was running him ragged. Four years and hundreds of claims from both tribes had almost completely snuffed out all hopes inside of him of ever finding the Avatar. Looking at that small igloo made that old feeling well up inside, and for a minute he grasped on to it, hoping, wishing, before ruthlessly throwing it away. How would this one be any different? Pausing from his pouting and seeing his leader hardened gaze on the small hut, Minato reached out before lightly settling his hand on leaders shoulder.

"This isn't hopeless, we'll find the Avatar." Minato spoke gently, their eyes meeting. "Just because the last few hundred haven't been legitimate doesn't mean this one will." Minato grinned. "In fact, I got a good feeling about this one!"

At this the weight from the leader's shoulders seemed to lighten, and a smile began to creep over the leaders face. "Is this the same good feeling you got when you first saw that girl? Because if it is, then I might just call in all the trainers for the Avatar now and grab whoever is in there." He joked.

Minato grinned at that, "if you're talking about my loving wife then you are correct, though I wouldn't talk about her that much." He leaned in, conspiratorially looking back and forth before whispering. "She has this weird ability to sense when people are talking about her…"

"ACHOO!" In a remote village in Earth Country, a fiery red headed woman found the ingredients of hers and her son's dinner suddenly sprayed around all over her kitchen. For a minute she just stood there, unmoving, before suddenly falling to her knees and raising her fists to the sky, cursing loudly at her misfortune. Her four year old child, tied into a child booster seat across the room, comically sweat dropped at her antics as it shifted from her hardship to threats of defenestration for whoever was talking about her.

"…So we should definitely stop talking about her or she will probably kill us!" Minato finished loudly.

"You don't say…" said the leader as he idly picked at his ears. What was he supposed to be doing again? Oh yeah! Find the Avatar. "Come on, we wasted enough time."

"But we were having such a nice conversation, and I didn't even get to tell you about my son yet!" Minato protested, tears in eyes.

"Please, you tell me about him all the time, I know everything about him and I haven't even met him yet." The leader calmly replied, flicking the finger that was in his ear toward Minato. He then grinned. "Didn't his name mean fishcake?"

Minato rolled his eyes at him, idly wiping away the gross crud that came out of his leader's ear. Honestly, that stuff was nasty. "His name means _maelstrom, _and he's the cutest-"

"Whatever," the leader said, cutting him off again. "We can talk about little _maelstrom _later, now lets go, we wasted enough time and I'm cold."

At that, he started making his way towards the hut leaving an anime crying Minato behind. "Why does no one ever let me talk about Naruto! It's not like I talk about him a lot!" He cried. The leader turned around leveling a stare at Minato, before continuing forward. 'Guess I do,' he thought, before wiping away his mock tears and hurrying to catch up. As he got closer his eyes hardened as they settled on the small igloo and his patiently waiting leader. 'Though I guess this does take priority over information about my son…' The heavy cloak he was wearing billowed at a sudden gust of wind, revealing white shoulder pads and a particular emblem. 'Seeing as how...' He finally caught up with his leader in front of the door. They nodded to each other before the leader knocked on the door, revealing a heavy set man in traditional water tribe clothing. The man's eyes dawned in recognition.

'The Order of the White Lotus are the guardians of the Avatar after all.'

End note: Bam. There's your prologue, tell me what you think of it in the reviews. That means guests too please, fanfiction was nice enough to put up those anonymous review boxes for that and I really want to know what you think. Say whatever you want, I am prepared to have my jimmies rustled. I also have to shout out to Engineer4Ever who inspired me to write in this crossover section. I was thinking about Bleach but Legend of Korra is just too damn sexy and Engineers writing is pretty sexy too. Anyways, read, review, and I'll seeya next time.

'


	2. The 'Daring' and Actually Daring Escape

400 hits in the first day? 36 Alerts and 21 favorites? You're all making me blush ;3 To keep up this love fest we got going, heres the next chapter of my shit bricks installment, may the festivities commence.

Types of speech:

Sarcasm/accentuating point: _Jimmies_

Thought: 'Jimmies'

Talk: "Jimmies"

Awesome talk: **"Jimmies"**

I don't own Naruto or Legend of Korra

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Chapter 1: The 'Daring' and Actually Daring Escape

**13 years later…**

"She's strong," the aged Katara spoke as she proudly watched her red clad juggernaut of a protégé bulldoze her way through her adversaries.

"She _lacks _restraint," glared the White Lotus leader as he watched the newest avatar make a mockery of his top firebending soldiers.

Today was the day of Korra's firebending mastery test. Mastering earth and water in the years prior, this test marked a milestone for the headstrong Avatar. By passing this trial today, she would be able to move on to her only unmastered element, air, and after mastering that would finally take her place among the recognized Avatars. No way would she go down as the only Avatar who couldn't even do her job, to _hell_ with that. She was gonna kick ass and takes names, and the only thing that stood in her way were her opponents.

'And they are making this so easy!' she thought gleefully as she plowed her way through a superheated blast of fire. The final man standing, gasping in surprise, crossed his arms in front of his face in preperation for hand to hand combat, only to balk as she kicked off his head as a platform. At the apex of her jump, she turned, a calculated glint in her eyes, before sending a roaring arc of flame with a furious kick. The poor man, now knocked off balance, stood no chance against her quick follow up as it blasted him far back. Smoking and utterley defeated the man collasped in defeat and promptly fainted. She had won.

"What a good fight!" Korra exclaimed in exuberant glee. "I humbly thank you for such a good fight and request that we adjourn this for tea and crumpets."

"What a good idea!" Agreed a suddenly pleasant White Lotus Leader. "In fact, why don't we go out for a calming ride out on the vast and mysterious expanses of snow while discussing the enjoyable activity of-"

Just fucking kidding, Korra nor the White Lotus Leader would ever do that.

"WOOHOO!" Korra cheered as she pumped her fists in triumph. Unfazed gazes met her outburst, but she couldn't care less. After so many years of blood, sweat, and tears, she had finally mastered firebending! Now, she was one step closer to mastering the elements and achieving the full status of avatar. Well, she was already the avatar, but she wouldn't be a half baked avatar. Wait, two thirds avatar. No wait, that's still wrong, three quarter- you know what, fuck it, you know what she meant. She was closer to her goal, she was a teenager full of hormones, and rebellion was in her blood; a few seconds of this in front of her stoic teachers was well deserved.

As the White Lotus Leader watched her outburst from afar, he couldn't help but grimace inside. Avatars are meant to be the earth spirit incarnate, a natural balancer to the four nations. Through overwhelming experience and power garnered throughout their past lives, they were the peacemakers in their violent world. By using their powers, they could beat a nation into submission, and even stop Mother Nature herself. In fact, Avatar Roku managed to stall a erupting volcano long enough for the inhabitants to escape, and that was probably just a minor example; probably somewhere in the long spectrum of avatars one probably actually managed to stop it _entirely_. Seeing Korra now, acting like a_ child _when she had such a heavy responsibilities, riled the Lotus Leader greatly. She should be acting more like him_, _the son who upheld duty perfectly. Spirits knows that the Avatar could have been worse than this without him.

The Leader's train of thought was broken suddenly when Korra sauntered over, a grin beaming on her face. "Hey, why all the doom and gloom people?" She chuckled happily as she came to a stop in front of them, removing her helmet as she did. "We should be celebrating! Three elements down, one to go!" She excentuated this by holding out three of her fingers, then flashing it to one.

"You're getting ahead of yourself as _usual_, Korra." Spoke her Firebending master seriously. "We haven't decided yet if you passed your firebending test yet."

"Ever since you were a little girl, you've excelled at the physical side of bending, but completely_ ignored_ the spiritual side," added the Lotus Leader, glaring at Korra as she stuck her chin out childishly. "The Avatar must master both."

At this she bowed her head slightly, seemingly hurt, then explained quietly, "I haven't ignored it, it just doesn't come as easy to me." She paused for a second, before perking up, "But that's why I should start training with Tenzin immediately! He's Mr. Spiritual!"

The Lotus Leader considered this. On one hand she did display some impressive skills, but on the otherhand she was way too impulsive. Impulsiveness in their line of work got them killed, and waiting for the next reincarnation of Avatar in these tenuous times could spell disaster for the world. He sighed on the inside, then thought of a much easier solution for his problem: let someone else do the thinking.

"Do you believe she is ready, Master Katara?" He questioned turning to old waterbender.

Katara looked over with a grandmotherly smile on her aged face before answering without hesistation, "Yes, if anyone can teach her what she needs to learn, it's Tenzin."

The Leader and the masters bowed their heads slightly in accord, begrudgingly in some cases, at her at her judgment. Master Katara beliefs were not to be ignored; if she believed the girl was ready then she was. Regaining their stances, the Leader then cast his gaze upon Korra. With a final internal sigh, he spoke, "Very well, Korra. It's time for you to begin your airbending training."

'And spirits help her in her endeavor, because her hot headedness will do nothing for progress…'

Barely as the Leader finished his sentence Korra was already cheering. In a display of unadulterated joy, Korra spun around. "Yes! Finally!" She exclaimed in exuberant happiness. And then she remembered who was watching. She timidly cracked open her eyes to flabbergasted elders, dismayed expression dominating their faces. Scrambling to recover the situation, Korra traded her happy look for a serious one. "I mean," She coughed before clasping her hands in respectful salute then bowing. "Thank you all for believing in me."

And with that, and trying to look as innocent as possible, she scampered off the field from her dismayed senseis and a smiling Katara.

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'I did it I did it I DID IT!' Were the thoughts coursing through Korra's mind as she took the steps down to her animals guide den. After all that bloody tortur- I mean, work, she had finally done it! No more stupid katas, no more stupid exercises, no more anything! She destroyed at all their stupid tests and now she was done! And now she was going to learn airbending!

Did she mention she had done it?

Finally reaching the gate to her guide's pen, she hurriedly pushed it open. Inside, what could only be described as one of the weirdest but coolest cross-species out there was lounging inside: a polar bear dog. Traditionally hunted by the Water Tribe for pretty much killing anything that moved, they were often considered a menace to the Southern Water Tribe's populace. But Korra, to top being an Avatar, managed to tame one and become the first person in history to ever do so. Not only was it furiously loyal to her, and also weighing in at a ton and a half of awesome, it also happened to be a great pillow which Korra discovered many times. 'Naga,' as that was her name, was Korra's greatest companion. Well, her most appreciated companion.

"Naga, you should have seen it!" Korra exclaimed as she entered. "I kicked some firebender butt, and I passed!"

The polar bear dog, curled up like a cat ironically, wagged her tail at Korra's entrance, and then got up to meet her. When they finally met and commenced the obligatory cuddling, it elicited a heartwarming scene to all. Almost.

"I'm not hope I'm not intruding on anything," a voice spoke from behind Korra.

Korra spun around in a flash, her eyes narrowing when her eyes landed on…"Naruto!"

"Did I come at a bad time?" He asked evenly, stepping out from the shadows by the gate.

So much for her good mood.

On the outside, Korra kept her face blank. Inside, she fumed. This dick pissed her off in every way possible, I mean, look at that him! Strutting around in his dark blue Lotus uniform like he owned the place, and then he didn't even have the decency to wear the pride of their uniform: the White Lotus headband! Wasn't it supposed to show they're a full fledged member? Wasn't it supposed to hide their identity in the secretive order? Only the Leader was allowed to take it off, and that's only because he was such a high profile target; the headband and form fitting mesh under it would do nothing to protect his identity any longer. And Naruto definetly wasn't high profile, he probably never even seen the world because of his constant hounding of her! How was he supposed to build a repuation as large enough if he had never even set foot out of this very village? Arrogant jerk.

And to also top not even wearing the headband all the time, he didn't even wear his shoulderguards too! Today was an exception, probably some bullshit ceremony or something his_ highness_ had to attend to, but still! The shoulderguards were just as important for the protection offered and the symbolic factor, and not wearing them was just as blasphemous as not sporting the headband. By not wearing them it could show a rebellious side to him, but so far in her _partnership_ with him he had never shown it. He was by the books and kept the tenants of the White Lotus close to him, and for the ten years she had known him he had never broke a single one. Sure, he didn't conform to wearing the full uniform, but even then the higher ups didn't seem to care.

Pah! He was probably just not wearing the headband to show off his looks! Prancing around with his flaming stupid flamboyant yellow hair, spiked up in every direction like some _cool_ person. And who could forget the whisker marks he showcased that lined his cheeks like a lemur fox? Stupid if you asked her. Oh, he said it was all natural, but she knew better; there was a reason why all the women in the White Lotus asked him on dates all the time. His hair and whiskers are so exotic they always gossiped! Screw exotic, he probably had his eyes set on her, the bastard, and she would never fall for his love making schemes! Sure, he cut what could be considered a pretty handsome figure, with his broad shoulders and lean muscular figure, but that's where her apreciation ended. This guy, who had the nerve follow her around wherever she went, doting on every little thing she did, be it a chore or training, pissed her the the fuck off. She was fine on her own; she didn't need some glorified babysitter to watch her. And he didn't even make a good training partner to top that! What a _splendid_ guardian he made.

"What do you want Naruto," Korra demanded, still holding onto Naga. "I've told you before that you shouldn't come in here, Naga doesn't like you.

"Oh, I think that is quite contrare," Naruto replied, glancing over to said animal guide before turning back to Korra. "Why just before you came here I took Naga for a walk, and she showed no hint ill intent towards me."

Naga barked happily in agreement after Naruto finished speaking, making her master clumsily let go. She was about to go over to Naruto and greet him, but upon seeing her master's glare, decided to smartly just sit down in place and watch events play out. It was always so entertaining to watch them fight. Seriously, if she could make popcorn right now and watch she would, but last time she tried she accidently demolished the kitchen in the process. She had had quite the scolding after that, but in the end she still got her popcorn. Human food was just so tasty!

"Let me rephrase that," Korra said as she sourly glared at Naga. "I don't like you, so get out of here before I force you out!"

Naruto just chuckled at her threat before brushing it aside like he always does. The bastard. "No need to be angry Korra, I just wanted to congratulate you on your test, it went well in my opinion."

Korra blinked a few times before answering in wonderment, "Did you…Did you just actually compliment me?" She had never gotten one from him before, not even when she mastered her other elements. This was unprecedented. "I dunno what to say, this is a first from you…I guess a than-"

"But," Naruto interrupted abruptly in mid dialogue. "You could've done better. Your breathing was off when you sent that fire bomb towards your second adversary, resulting in a less powerful blast. You're lucky that Hajime was sick all last week, because he can usually take flames of that degree easily. You shoul-"

During all this, Korra was fuming. Her day had been awesome so far: she had a good rest the night before, her breakfast had been really tasty, and she had finally passed her firebending test just prior. Hearing this prick cut her down like he always does when she thought she had been such great mood had just made her, well…

"SCREW YOU NARUTO"

…Explode

"Every damn time Naruto!" Korra accused the startled Naruto. "Every time I think I'm doing something good, you just have to waltz in and be like _oh, you could do better_. Well I got news for you bud!" She then stomped up to him and started poking him, hard, in the chest. "You are not my master, stop telling me what to do!"

"You're right," Naruto glared as he grabbed her offending hand. "I'm your guardian, your bodyguard, and I'm trying to do my job! And if it means I have to tell you you're doing something shitty I will!"

"My guardian? My bodyguard? That must be a joke!" Korra scoffed, ripping her hand out from Naruto's grasp. "You can't even beat me in a fight! Hell, you can barely even earthbend! How are you supposed to protect me if you can barely even defend me!"

That got a reaction.

His features darkened as he bowed his head after her accusation, before suddenly returned in full fury. Cobalt eyes blazed with pure unadulterated rage, giving promises of hurt and destruction, and subconsciously Korra readied herself for a fight. But, as soon as the anger showed itself, it was gone, his face smoothing over to the mask White Lotus members often used to hide their emotions. His albeit still showed the last vestiges of his ire. 'Guess even Mr. Perfectionist here hasn't even mastered that,' Korra smirked internally.

"There are still some things, Korra, that you do not understand," Naruto replied tightly. "When the time comes, let me assure you that I will hold up to yours and this stations expectations to the letter." He paused at this, breathing in and out to calm himself, and then looked back at Korra. "Just because I'm not great at earthbending doesn't mean I specialize in it, I practice in something else entirely!"

"Then what do you practice at," Korra asked incredulously. "Pebblebending?"

Naruto was about to open his mouth with a retort, but caught himself. Korra, scratch that, pretty much _no one_ was supposed to no about what he actually specialized in. If he had accidentally told her what he could actually do…well, let's just say his dad's annihilation of the rebels within earth country years before would pale in comparison of what he would do to him. Fuck having a hero as a dad; honestly, it really cramps your style.

Taking his silence and blank stare for defeat, Korra gave him a very unladylike snort before walking back to Naga and nudging her up. As Naga rose she swung herself into the saddle before calmly making her way out the gate.

"Wait!" Naruto spluttered at the abrupt change in mood. "Where are you going? You know you're not allowed to leave the village without me! Plus we haven't finished this conversation yet!"

"Relax Mr. Perfect," Grinning as the euphoria of attaining victory over him coursed through her. Damn that's a good feeling. "I won't be going far outside the walls and, since Tenzin going to be coming in a few days, I want to take her out before she goes stir crazy. And I kicked your ass in this argument anyway, so I'm going."

And so she left.

If Naruto was actually thinking at the time he would have stopped her, but after having his ass thoroughly kicked verbally, albeit with a extreme handicap, it was understandable when he just dumbly nodding and allowed her to pass. Roughly thirty minutes later, when he finally recovered the full use of his mental processes, would he be heard throughout the village using colorful words to describe her and her 'daring' escape. In response to his antics, everyone collectively face palmed, even old Katara, and then returned to their chores. Just a regular day in the Southern Water Tribe.

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**A Few Days Later**

Naruto, for what felt like the hundredth time to him, found himself staggering back tiredly into the men's side of the Lotus' barracks. Now some might ask why there would be a men's side of the barracks in the Order, didn't they promote equality among genders? Well the reason is exactly what you are probably thinking you dirty readers: due to some 'promiscuous' adventures from members of the past, and the resulting maternity leave among women members, the current leader of the Order decided to separate the traditional gender neutral barracks to divided ones. Sure, they didn't like it, but he got his members back and the bonus of numerous baby pictures. Damn those fucks were cute.

Anyway, the Leader decided that instead of making it the traditional one huge room with numerous bunk beds lined throughout, to instead put up two huge dividing walls with a long corridor running down the middle. Two heavy set doors, different colors to reflect what gender resided within, were placed at opposite ends of the hall. That way, at least in the Leader's sense, they would have a harder time of sneaking into each others dorm. So far, it had worked great and maternity and pregnancy leave was down to an all time low. Sure, they were traditionally meant to seek philosophy, beauty, and truth, but if it interfered with their primary duty of protecting and training the Avatar, then some _special _ways of seeking it had to be...lost.

Back in the present, Naruto, after mumbling hello to other fellow members as he came in, stumbled through the door and over to his bunk where he promptly collapsed in a jumbled heap. Hearing the mild thunk that emanated below, his bunk mate pulled himself over the edge of his bed and peered below. Seeing who it was, he grinned.

"Hey Naruto, had a long day?" He joked, seeing the disheveled form of the still fully clad blonde protector below him.

"Mhmmm, shut up Hajime, sleep now," He mumbled sleepily, clumsily pulling at the edge of his blankets.

Hajime, still grinning at his unusually tired partner, decided to continue the conversation even if his unwilling partner didn't. Seriously, Naruto being this tired pretty much never happened, and Hajime was going to take full advantage of it. Swinging himself down, he plopped himself down at the end of Naruto's bed, eliciting an oomph from said bunk mate.

"So what's got you this tired Mr. Bodyguard?" He questioned the now glaring Naruto. "Korra driving you nuts again?"

Naruto, knowing that Hajime wouldn't leave him alone until he answered, collected his limbs and then propped himself up on his elbows. Glaring one final time at him, he answered, "Yeah, Korra's driving me crazy again. The other day when I found her in Naga's pen I gave her a way to fix her shoddy performance, but instead of listening she exploded on me and called me the most incompetent bodyguard ever. Then she ran off" At this he snorted. "I've been trying to find her since then but she just completely disappeared. To top that, she also said my earthbending sucks, but my earthbending doesn't suck does it?"

"Bro, you gotta stop doing that, you know she doesn't like that! Hell, if you were doing it to me I would be annoyed! Plus, she really did good in my opinion." Hajime then looked away sheepishly before speaking, "Uhm, about your bending, do you want the truth or a lie?"

"…Both?" Naruto asked tentatively.

"Alright, I'll go with the lie then the truth!" He declared, and then continued with an obviously fake smile plastered on his face. "Well, your bending is awesome; I dunno what she talkin about bro!" Seeing Naruto's giving him a blank stare, he replaced the smile with a grim look. "And the truth is bro, is that your bending could use a lot of work. You don't send the earth at a hard enough velocity to actually really harm anyone…"

He then looked back and forth, checking to see if anyone was around. There was nobody except some other guys playing Pai Sho across the room. Turning back to visibly saddened Naruto, he whispered quietly, "And just so you know, because you've been such a great friend to me throughout these years, is that there have been some people in the Order spreading rumors about you, let me finish!" He ordered, moving his hand in a slashing motion, cutting whatever Naruto said off.

Inhaling and exhaling, he then continued, "They've been saying you only got your position because of blood, because of who your family is, and that you have no real talent. They've also been saying that they don't understand why the Leader allows such an incompetent bodyguard who can't even bend to protect the Avatar."

Throughout Hajime's speech Naruto emotions had ranged dramatically. First he had displayed outraged, before moving to a calculated look as he took in the information. Finally, it had moved to defeat as Hajime ended, his shoulders sagging and his features drooping in shame. Hajime felt guilty after saying all this. Sure, the kid could use a few pointers at earthbending, but at heart he was probably one of the most caring people he knew. Seeing him so shattered like this…it really tore him up inside.

"It's because they don't know…" Naruto mumbled, breaking Hajime from his inner guilt trip.

Seeing this as a way to cheer Naruto up, and also being curious, he decided to branch out from this statement. "They don't know what?" He asked.

"They don't know what I can actually do…" Naruto continued, rubbing that spot above his heart like he always does. _I wonder why…_

"And what can you do?" Hajime questioned, subtly moving closer for the big reveal.

Naruto opened his mouth as he was about to explain, but then it promptly snapped shut. Instead he abruptly stepped out of the bed, loudly exclaiming, "I DID YOUR MOM!"

At this Hajime face vaulted before swiftly recovering and pulling himself up. Then he was in Naruto's face. "MY MOTHER IS A KIND AND WONDERFUL WOMEN, DON'T YOU TALK ABOUT HER IN THAT WAY!"

"OH YEAH?" Naruto shot back. "WELL I AGREE WITH YOU BUDDY! HER MOUTH WAS REAL KIND TO ME LAST NIGHT"

At this Hajime was taken aback, before he dramatically jumped back and pointed at Naruto. "THAT'S IT! WE'RE TAKING THIS OUTSIDE NARUTO! I CHALLENGE YOU TO AN AGNI KAI! TEST YOUR PATHETIC STRENGTH AGAINST ME MORTAL AND WEEP IN DESPAIR!" He cackled manically as flames suddenly appeared around him.

Naruto sweatdropped at this, before grinning, "First off, I can't firebend so Agni Kai would be pointless. Secondly, you couldn't beat me like how you couldn't beat Korra at her test today. Isn't there a nice indentation where you hit the gazebos roof?"

Hajime gasped, opening and closing his mustached mouth several times, before abruptly glaring at Naruto. "You win this time, Naruto…" He growled.

Naruto glared back, their eyes literally creating electricity from the intensity. Seriously, if you could somehow collect the amount of sparks flying, you could use it to power a house. But then the glares were gone, replaced by stupidly silly smiles on each others faces. With a laugh, they pulled each other into a hug, before stepping back and giving each others fist bumps. For that tiny moment, there was world peace.

"Bros," they both said, still madly grinning at each other as rainbows arched across the sky and doves flew through the air.

And then the peace was gone as the bro bump broke. The rainbows disappeared, the doves vanished, and people went back to beating each other with sticks. Ah, progress. What a lovely thing.

"Anyway," Hajime spoke, breaking the awesome moment of peace and also totally forgetting what they had been talking about. "Isn't your bodyguard duty like 24/7? Aren't you supposed to be watching Korra right now?"

Naruto sheepishly scratched the back of his head before answering, "I kinda said it before… I can't find her. She completely disappeared!"

"I believe I can help you," Hajime said with an amused expression on her face. "I saw her recently up at the main complex with Master Tenzin and our dear Leader."

Naruto face brightened, but then transitioned to sheer panic when Hajime mentioned the Leader. "Shit!" He realized. "Leader is going to have a field day on me! I'm suppose to be at meetings when Korra is involved!" He then swiftly cleaned himself up, furiously rubbing at the wrinkles in his uniform before sprinting out the door.

"Thanks Hajime, we'll grab some noodles later…" He called out somewhere in the distance. Hajime shook his head at Naruto's antics before turning back to their bunk. Smiling deviously, he kneeled down and undid the floor board under one of the posts. Grabbing a certain orange colored book, he stealthily reattached the floorboard before crawling back up to his bed. 'Yes, tonight will be a great night indeed,' he giggled.

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"I don't understand," Korra said with disappointment as Tenzin postponed her airbending training. "Why are you making me wait?"

"I have a responsibility to Republic city," Tenzin explained to Korra. He paused, looking away. Spirits it made him feel bad breaking this to her. "I am one of its leaders, and the situation there is very unstable right now."

As he said this Korra couldn't but feel disappointed. Airbending was her final step to becoming the Avatar, she needed this! "But you have a responsibility to teach me!" She said with defiance, trying to change his opinion. "Believe me, I'd be happy to find another airbending master, but you're the only one. We're stuck with each other."

"I wish there was another way," Tenzin apologized, feeling the guilt well up in his chest. He really hated doing this to Korra, seeing her dream getting crushed so easily…It was heartbreaking to say the least.

Korra kept her gaze down on the table as she seemingly accepted defeat. 'There has to be another way,' she thought furiously as she tried to grasp some form of compromise. She refused to take this turn of events lying down, there must be some way! And her luck was in order that day, she found one.

"Wait, there is!" She exclaimed. "If you can't stay here, then I'll go to Republic City with you! It's per-"

"NO!" A snow covered blur interrupted as it crashed through the door and fell in front of the table. Picking itself off the ground after its dramatic entrance, it started shaking the offending white off its figure revealing striking yellow hair and the lotus uniform. Tenzin and the Leader shook their heads at his entrance except for Korra; she was fuming at him interrupting her like always. Typical Naruto.

"Republic City is too dangerous Korra!" Raged Naruto as he finished brushing himself off. "The lowlifes there would tear you apart! As your guardian, I must insist that you stay here in the village for your safety!" He then turned away from the now pissed Korra and bowed apologetically. "Sorry for barging in like this Master Tenzin, Leader. The weather outside was terrible and Korra decided to play hide and go seek from me for the last few days."

"Why you!" Korra spluttered, thoroughly enraged at her yellow haired bodyguard. "I can handle myself Naruto, stop trying to baby me! I can take on Republic city easily!" At this she pointed an accusing finger at Naruto. "And we were never 'playing' anything! You just suck at keeping track of me!"

Naruto opened his mouth to argue with the pony tail Avatar, but was cut off by his Leader who slammed his fists down on the table. "Enough!" He yelled, silencing them both. He then glared at the blonde bodyguard. "Naruto, remember your lessons. The guardian must always be respectful of his charge. If you are going to address her, do it in a kind and patient manner."

Seeing Korra stick her tongue out childishly at Naruto, he then shifted his glare on her. "And you young Avatar must also learn to take his suggestions seriously; he in this case is not wrong." Seeing her questioning gaze focused on him, he explained, "Republic City, at this moment in time, is a very dangerous place. Naruto analysis of the threat indication is correct, you would be in danger." He then sighed. "Avatar Aang tasked us with keeping you safe while you mastered the four elements, and if we allowed you to go it would be breaking that very promise. You must understand."

"I get that," Korra agreed, but eyes telling a different story. "But I don't think keeping me in the compound like a prisoner is what he had in mind!"

"I know this is difficult to accept Korra," Tenzin interjected, silencing whatever the Leader and Korra were about to say. "But it's not the right time for you to come to the city. It's too dangerous."

After he finished Korra's eyes flickered with hurt, before she abruptly stood up. Dismissively mumbling 'whatever,' the door slammed behind her as she left, leaving the silent occupants. After a few seconds, Naruto broke the silence.

"Orders, Leader?" He questioned.

He pondered the query for a moment, before turning to the yellow haired guardian. "Follow her, but keep to the shadows. Her mood is volatile right now and therefore could be self destructive." Then he paused, before adding one last requisite. "But also, she's deeply hurt right now, so don't talk to her; as the Avatar she needs to think on this. Plus, she really doesn't like you that much."

Naruto nodded before making his way swiftly out the door. When the sound of his boots echoing throughout the hall faded to silence a few moments later, the Leader sighed and begun rubbing his temples. "I'm getting to old for this shit," the Leader stated, wincing as he tried to force the tense muscles to smooth.

"I hate having to agree with you on this, but I am," Tenzin smiled apologetically, getting a glare in return. Deciding a change of subject in order, he asked, "If you don't mind me asking Masahiro, why do you make them call you Leader? Wouldn't it be easier to call you by your actual name?"

"It would be," The newly dubbed Masahiro answered, gazing upwards in deep thought. "But then they would all have to earn that right to call me that and so far, none have. Except for you and maybe Minato." Then he grinned before turning his eyes back on Tenzin. "Plus, it makes me feel good when they refer to me as leader; such an _empowering_ title."

Tenzin rolled his eyes before changing the conversation once again. Masahiro was such a wily old man.

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The next day was bittersweet for Korra as she and Naga, sitting precariously on the great cliffs of her village, watched Tenzin and his family silhouette shrink as they flew back to Republic City. She had hoped after her argument with him last night that he would have a change of heart and allow her to return with him, but to no avail. He was gone. Instead, she was stuck here for an indefinite amount of time waiting for the day of her postponed training.

Korra knew it was for her protection now, after a lot of thinking last night she begrudgingly accepted that the Leader's and Naruto's reasoning was correct, but she still couldn't help but feel hurt and betrayed in the end. The White Lotus promised to help train her in her journey, but instead they put it off and treated her like a child. She was seventeen years old and master of three elements for spirits sake, she could definitely handle herself by this point! Seventeen year olds were not supposed to be watched like kids! Hell, the world could end tomorrow and she'd be completely helpless because of their doting! In fact, the whole weight and responsibility of balancing the future of world was on her head, and she had to learn airbending now so she actually stood a fighting chance! She _had_ to go!

And there was the real solution to her problem she realized as the figure of Oogi the sky bison got smaller and smaller. She had to go by herself and make Tenzin train her. He may not like it and protest, but he would have to in the end. If times in Republic City were getting tough, then they might need the Avatar to balance the situation. It was her duty as the Avatar to help out, and this was her path. Her path as the Avatar.

Her drive solidified, she wiped the vestiges of tears off her face before whispering calming words to the mourning Naga. After she finished, she turned to a calmly waiting Naruto, the first obstacle in her journey. She may not like him for babysitting her so much, but even she would feel bad at what she was soon about to do. Nodding that she was done, they slowly returned to the village.

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**That night outside Naga's den…**

Contrary to Korra's beliefs, Naruto did have a conscience, and his conscience was telling him he had been a major bastard. Shooting Korra's dream down like that had really left a bad taste in his mouth, even to his usual bastard self. Sure, he had been a bastard several times in the past, even he could see that the constant babysitting and 'tips' could be annoying, but there was a difference between his usual bastard self and being a major bastard and he had just past that threshold splendidly. The tenants technically said to only apologize to your charge if you had made a tactical error, and tactically he had made none, but they sure didn't say that you'd feel like a complete dick after.

'Bah, I feel like shit' He thought as they arrived at Naga's den. 'But if I feel like shit to keep her safe and do my job, then I'll sacri-"

Naruto thoughts were interrupted as a heavy hand abruptly pushed him down the waiting stairs. Curling himself into a ball to protect his vitals, he tumbled brazenly down the steps before eventually crashing through the gate in a bone splintering collision. Dazed and confused, his slowly returning eyesight eventually noticed Korra starting to make the flowing stances of waterbending.

"The fuck are you doing Korra!" He slurred angrily, struggling to get back up but falling back down with a painful grunt. Naga barked furiously at Korra for her violent actions, before moving to rescue the downed guardian. Instead, an impenetrable wall of ice swiftly encompassed the hybrid in an icy prison. Now trapped, Naga had no choice but to wait it out. With her gone, Naruto knew no help would be coming to rescue him from the homicidal Korra anytime soon.

Biting back a yell as a fresh wave of pain hit him, he looked down to the offending source but grimaced when he did. Jagged white was poking through a hole in his pants, blood staining it crimson as it began to pool. 'Shit,' he thought. 'The fall must've broken my leg!'

"I'm finding my path Naruto," She said, a hard glint in her eyes. "I have to learn airbending from Tenzin to keep the balance of the world, and right now the White Lotus is keeping me from doing that." The icy demeanor dominated her face seemingly melted after she finished, gaining a more regretful look. "Don't get me wrong Naruto, for once it's really nothing you did; it's just your job and I understand that! This is just something I have to do, and I have to do it alone. For the record, I'm sorry."

As she finished she renewed her movements with vigor as snow began to flow around her in an icy hurricane. It rose high into the air in a show of unrivaled power, before falling swiftly down from the sky. Right for the entrance of the den. Naruto's eyes widened in fear.

"Korra don't-"

"I'm sorry," she whispered as the snow silenced his unfinished plea. She hadn't meant to break his leg when she pushed him, and she felt bad for doing it, but she knew that he'd be found soon. If the White Lotus sentries hadn't seen her display of power, then they had definitely heard the noise of hundreds of pounds of snow falling in front of the den. This was according to her plan of course; his survival was her top priority when they were making their way here. Sure, even if they never really got along so well because of his constant doting on her, and his annoyance at her for her rebellious antics, she never wanted him dead. So she had made sure sentries were on patrol nearby when she initiated her plan, and also made the snow only fall in front of the den. By the time they would find him, dig him out, and patch him up, she'd be long gone. And when they finally launch a search for her Tenzin hopefully would have agreed to train her by then, making this event pointless. With the knowledge that the first step in her plan was a success, she gave one last regretful look towards Naga's former den, before breaking the said guide out of the thick ice. Grabbing her reins and calming the frantic beast, she swung herself up and together they disappeared into the night.

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"FUCK!" Cried an irate Naruto as he slammed his fist into the wall of white.

Trapped by the regretful Avatar merely moments ago, the intense burn of anger flooded through his him as he lay helpless in the darkness. Even though he was positive that she pretty much hated his guts, and he really never liked her that much either to be honest, he never thought she'd ever pull a stunt on him like this! Sure, maybe he did warrant the insulting comments he always got from her, but it didn't warrant burying him inside a den! Stupid girl. Now he was stuck in here alone, bleeding to death, and with no way out all because of her stupid drive to kill herself! Inside, he felt a rising, inexplicable rage burning within him before he suddenly started slamming his fist into the snow with renewed frenzy. After a few minutes of it, he tiredly stopped. 'It's no use,' he though as he slumped onto the ground, completely spent. 'I'm trapped.'

Breathing in and out deeply a few times to calm himself, he dragged his screaming body away from the buried gate and propped himself up on the nearest wall.

And there, he began to think.

'Alright, let's handle this situation like a true White Lotus. Remember dads lessons, what did he say to use when you get into situations like this?' he asked himself, eyes scrunched up in concentration

'When you're stuck, ask the W.W.H,' his brain told him.

'Right! Ask who's fault is it, why you're stuck there, and how you're going to fix it!' he exclaimed. 'Now whose fault is it?"

'Korra's,' his brain answered.

'Ok, so why did she bury me?' he asked.

'She wants to finish her training but you would never allow it,' his omnipotent brain answered once again.

'Alright, so how am I going to get out this mess and fix this brain,' he questioned, hoping for a postitive way out. 'I can't earthbend out of here because it's all ice, plus my bending really does suck, but I really don't want to resort to less conventional tactics…'

His brain contemplated this for a moment, before giving him a hesitant answer, '…use _it_ to get out of here and fulfill your station.'

Naruto was taken aback at his owns brain answer. His brain never suggested he do _that _because it usually had some form of repercussion. Last time he used it had been five years ago when Korra had knocked herself into a coma during an earthbending accident. Using it to rush her to the nearest medical pavilion had scared the shit out of everyone there, and many people had to be sworn to secrecy after. Some even had to be _executed_. Even worse, he had been punished severely by his father and Leader for using it after. Let me assure you, feeling like death two times in a row for doing something really made you not want to do it again. But desperate times call for desperate measures, and this sure counted as one. Sighing to himself, he resigned himself to his fate.

"Agreed…"he spoke quietly before gripping the skin above heart. Exhaling one more time, he closed his eyes then became deathly still. From the outside it looked like he was a statue. On the inside, it was quite different.

_Mindscape_

He finally found it inside him, sitting there like always after burying it so many years ago. Daintily floating there in the air and looking innocent, he grasped it in his hand before concentrating deeply on it.

'_Awaken' _he commanded_._

Complying with his request, tendrils of light suddenly shot out it, seeping through the cracks in his hand. Waving around as if they had a mind of their own, the tendrils then swung around and surrounded him in a ball. As he felt the sudden burst of power coursing through his veins, he couldn't help but have once last thought.

'My duty is to protect you Korra, and even if you're going to be a pain in the ass I will always be there. Even if I ha**ve to become this to do so!**'

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Meanwhile, the lone White Lotus sentry that had been on patrol nearby had swiftly discovered the buried den. After notifying Leader and taking a swift headcount had they finally discovered it was Korra and Narruto. Under the impression she was most likely injured if she hadn't moved the snow herself, the Leader had mobilized his waterbenders to uncover them. Right as they finished removing the snow though, they found something quite different waiting for them within.

They found a tunnel.

Now this usually wouldn't be a strange occurrence, the Southern Water Tribe benders often used tunnels such as these to connect between outposts. These tunnels allowed for quick transport to and from such outposts and, in the event of emergency or impending defeat, also allowed for escape. The fact that this tunnel was in a place where it shouldn't be, lacked the smooth edges of conventional waterbending, and was dug by brute strength through _solid ice_ was what really set it apart.

Amazingly, that wasn't the most astounding part; it was how big it was. The sentry had notified the Leader around fourty five minutes ago, taking the sentry ten minutes to return and report, twenty five for the Leader to take a headcount, and finally another ten for the Leader to mobilize his men and rush to the den. After following the polar bear dog sized tunnel, he and the waterbenders found that it had stretched around a half a mile through glacier ice before finally breaking the surface. Digging that far within that time frame through glacier ice, which on the scale of hardness was close to iron, was completely mindblowing unto itself.

Naturally they thought that the animal guide, who had the brute strength necessary, had dug it, and hoped they'd find Naga, Korra, and Naruto at the end. Unfortunately, this was not to be. Instead, they found a message carved deep into the ground when they exited. It said:

**Leader, Avatar Korra has escaped my jurisdiction. I am engaging in immediate pursuit; send forces towards Republic City for retrieval and protection -Naruto **

'Well shit!' Thought Masahiro as multiple contingency plans started running through his aged mind. 'There goes my sleep for tonight!'

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Stowed away on the freighter ship she had sneaked onto, Korra couldn't help but shiver when a sense of foreboding rolled through her. Shrugging it off as the remnants of her fading adrenaline, she snuggled deeper into Naga's thick coat, the animal guide had forgiven her after she explained, and drifted off to sleep.

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On the icy plains close to the nearby port, Naruto paused from his search to gaze upon a ship leaving the harbor. Narrowing his eyes, he gave a deep guttural roar that resonated throughout the lands before tearing his way towards town.

Duty called.

**End of Chapter 1**

Final Author's Note: As you can see, Naruto and Korra are at each others throats. I wanted to have a story that was atypical of the usual become immediate friends and then fall in love works. By having them wanting to pretty much kill each other right off the bat, I think it filled out the atypical requisite nicely.

I hope you also enjoyed the first glimpse of Naruto's power. Before you say something about it though, no, he's not going to be some overpowered prick. I literally hate that shit. I stories that give the hero an edge that lets them barely survive, and this edge he has won't give him much of a boost. I also wanted to include elements from both stories, and since this is such a heavy one in (not gonna say what element but you probably already have an idea) Naruto's world that shapes his development so deeply, I had to include it. Of course, I changed it a bunch so it will fit nicely into the spectrum of where I'm going and also pump up the action and drama a lot more.

Also, if you haven't noticed, I'm going to be making the White Lotus play a bigger part in this story. In LOK they basically disappear after the first episode until they have their heroic last stand close to the finale. I think they could've expanded on them much more, which is partially the reason why I wrote this. With Naruto here involved I can do that. That means more White Lotus Leader, Hajime, and other White Lotus influences.

Anyways, as always tell me what you think in the reviews. The feedback was great last time and was really what motivated me to pump out these 8000 or so words…God my hands hurts. Say whatever you want in them, I am prepared for my jimmies to be rustled.

On one final note before I end this long ass note, since I'm kinda new to writing in this whorish amount, I'm not too great at the grammar department. Cylon One was nice enough to point out in a PM some mistakes that I missed, and I confess that most of my grammar was being fixed by Word's autocorrect. I looked through this several times to catch anything, but I'm still not sure. If you guys could tell me what you do to have your grammar checked and corrected on this site, then leave a message about that too please. God knows how many I made in this chapter…

P.S Masahiro and Hajime are names I made up for their characters. I dunno their actually names, so I made stuff that fit with the story. Hajime means start, as this is the start of the story, and Masahiro means justice prospers, because since he's the Leader he suppose to support their ideals. I think its fitting anyway

As always, read, review, and I'll see you next time.


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